Formula E: Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing power to top of standings after Monaco win
MONACO: Nick Cassidy of Envision Racing fired to the top of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with a storming drive from ninth on the grid to win the race in an absorbing 2023 Monaco E-Prix.
Cassidy led home Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing), having fended off his countryman until a late-race Safety Car made the win certain.
The 150mph game of chess ebbed and flowed as leaders vied for control and to set the pace but Cassidy's decisive early-race moves yielded the ultimate result. Once his engineer gave the green light for a six-lap sprint finish, Cassidy didn't look back.
Evans had himself clambered from sixth on the grid to second at the chequered flag and was within touching distance of the Envision right up to the Safety Car three laps from the race finish. That New Zealand one-two made it four wins in succession, a new Formula E record for a single nation.
Jake Dennis of the Avalanche Andretti Formula E team couldn't quite live with the lead pair but he had torn through from 11th on the grid to make the final step on the podium.
Meanwhile, Sacha Fenestraz of Nissan Formula E Team, who thought he had sealed the Julius Baer Pole Position only for a post-session penalty to hand that honour to Jake Hughes of NEOM McLaren Formula E Team, steered home to fourth, unable to compete with the lead trio's benchmark combination of speed and efficiency. Hughes followed him across the line, with Dan Ticktum(NIO 333 Racing) hanging on for sixth positiondespite a couple of late-race scrapes and some damage to his car.
Long-time Drivers' standings leader Pascal Wehrlein could only improve to 11th from starting 12th on the grid, which resulted in both the driver and his TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team losing their grip on their respective championships.
Fellow title contender Jean-Éric Vergne recovered to seventh from the very back of the grid after DS PENSKE's tyre pressure infringements saw them disqualified from qualifying. The 15-position overtaking masterclass earned Vergne the inaugural ABB Driver of Progress race award, honouring intelligent, efficient driving resulting in the most places gained in a race.
Reigning world champion and DS PENSKE teammate StoffelVandoorne was also able to climb to the points with ninth place.
Cassidy’s 121 pts moves him ahead of Wehrlein on 100 pts in the Drivers' table with Jake Dennis now third on 96 pts and Evans just behind on 94 pts. Vergne leaves Monaco fifth in the running.
Envision Racing now leap to the top of the Teams' standings on 182 points, 14 points ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team on 168 points, while Jaguar TCS Racing sits third on 157 points.